Utah continues to be on the forefront of technology and renewable energy sources as Zion National Park made history in 2014 by being the first park in Utah to install electric vehicle charging stations.

On April 24, Zion continued its charge into a more sustainable future by celebrating a new charging station located at the Kolob Canyon visitor’s center near New Harmony.

Leading the charge was Robin Erickson, executive director for Utah Clean Cities Coalition, who, along with Alex Barajas, environmental protection specialist and Juli Rohrbach, environmental sustainability coordinator for Zion National Park, secured the grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and Clean Cities Initiative to purchase and install the EV charging station.

“The parks service has a pretty firm stance on climate change and this will be one of the things that echoes that stance,” Barajas said.

Guest speakers also included state representatives, Iron and Washington county commissioners, the Rocky Mountain Power Company, the Zion Natural History Association, sales associates from the Steven Wade Auto Center, and Southern Utah resident Mark Larsen, who owns a Nissan LEAF and is a strong advocate for electric vehicles and their positive impact on the environment and the wallet. (…)